“Glass is light” in stunning new additions at Flint Institute of Arts opening April 21
By Jan Worth-Nelson The ribbon-cutting at 10:30 a.m. April 21 of the Flint Institute of Arts blockbuster new wing, galleries, and studios will be the climax of a story rivaling the best door-stop novel. It is about a middle-aged woman’s third marriage to a furniture...
East Village Magazine – April 2018
The latest issue of the East Village Magazine is available for download here:
Review: City’s crime, race, politics all in the lens of compelling, humanizing “Flint Town”
Ed Note: A community conversation about the eight-part Netflix series "Flint Town," co-sponsored by East Village Magazine and the Flint Area Public Affairs Forum, is set for 5:30-7 p.m. Tuesday, April 10 at the Flint Public Library. Thanks to Ed Bradley for reviewing...
Commentary: How to get out the vote? GCD may have the answer–make it hard
By Paul Rozycki It must be a Flint thing. If you want people to do something, tell them you can’t do it. Make it difficult. Make it too easy and they will ignore you. Consider some recent elections in Flint. On one hand, in the last few years, an election to choose...
Review: “All the Pieces Matter: The Inside Story of The Wire”
Review by Robert R. Thomas Aptly titled, Jonathan Abrams’ book demonstrates his premise via an oral history that focuses on the creation of The Wire, a critically acclaimed HBO television series that ran from 2002 to 2008. Abrams’ book is an engaging dialogue script....
Residents voice concerns on pot dispensary zoning; council decision deferred to April 4
By Meghan Christian Approximately 46 Flint residents, mostly from the College Cultural Neighborhood (CCN), stood before Flint City Council on Monday, March 26 and again on Wednesday, March 28 to voice their opinions on the creation of a new marijuana dispensary in the...
“Enough is enough” Flint protestors declare in “March for our Lives” rally against gun violence
By Jan Worth-Nelson Under the watchful eye of the statue of nonviolence guru Mahatma Gandhi at Willson Park Saturday, participants at a rally organized by twin 17-year-old Powers High School students brandished protest signs and chanted "Enough is enough" in...
“Surviving and into Thriving” focus of Resilience and Environmental Justice Summits
By Darlene C. Carey “This is really very apropos in terms of timing,” said Kris Johns, the Flint ReCAST program coordinator, describing the second annual Resiliency Summit, which will also include the second annual Environmental Justice Summit, on Monday, March...
Analysis: GCD administrator, CCNA leaders reflect on record-breaking “tree” election
By Jan Worth-Nelson Advocates for Flint's urban forest -- both in the Genesee Conservation District (GCD) and the "grassroots" of a contentiously active neighborhood association -- are taking a deep breath today after the election of three new directors for the GCD...
Three new board members to join Conservation District board
The vote tally from Thursday's Genesee Conservation District election, posted on the GCD website today, are as follows: Final tally, Four-year term: Erin Caudell, 272 votes Caroline Kellogg, 242 votes Andy Everman, 239 votes Dave Lossing, 236 votes Final tally for...
Residents turn out by the hundreds for Genesee Conservation District “green wave” election
By Jan Worth-Nelson By 11:30 a.m., just a half hour into voting for three open seats on the board of the Genesee Conservation District, more than 400 ballots had been cast at the polling place, Asbury United Methodist Church, according to GCD election workers. The...
Confluence of efforts on “the spine of the city” changing the Flint River reality, narrative
By Jeffery L Carey Jr and Jan Worth-Nelson Demolition of the crumbling Hamilton Dam on the Flint River downtown, now underway, has brought together numerous community, scientific, and engineering efforts in a process affected and propelled by the water crisis and...
Fate of city trees, water pipeline restoration, Gilkey Creek bridge highlight CCNA meeting
By Patsy Isenberg Residents at the College Cultural Neighborhood Association (CCNA) meeting March 15 hashed out several issues with CCNA President Mike Keeler and others, including City of Flint Department of Public Works Director Robert Bincsik, ranging from pipe...
Flint City Riveters, women’s full-tackle football team, open season April 7
By Dylan Doherty Yes, women can play football, Louise Ogadinma declares. And not only can they play--a number of women in Flint want to play. That hardy corps of athletes have found an outlet in the Flint City Riveters (FCR), a full-tackle women’s football team...
Trial policy to aid restoration of service for water shutoffs, council and mayor announce
By Jan Worth-Nelson Flint residents whose water has been shut off can get service restored by paying part of their balance due during the next 60 days, thanks to a "trial policy" approved by the Flint City Council this week. Terms for the reconnections are as follows:...
CCNA seeking “green wave” in little-noticed Genesee Conservation District election
By Jan Worth-Nelson Editor's note: This article has been corrected to indicate that an email request for a ballot is not one of the options for voting. While much of the nation obsesses about a speculated coming “blue wave” in primaries and midterms, one Flint...
Grayce Scholt, iconic writer, teacher, artist and poet of East Village Magazine, dead at 92
By Jan Worth-Nelson It is with a heavy heart that we announce that Grayce Scholt, our beloved longtime poet of East Village Magazine, died this morning at the Mission Point rehab center in Holly. Grayce was 92. As we attempt to absorb this great loss for EVM and for...
Commentary Part One: Is Baker College delivering “college in a can?” Why one Baker faculty member quit
Editor's note: This is the first of a two-part commentary considering how college classes are designed and offered -- and the teacher's role -- beginning with retired psychologist and former Baker College instructor James Woolcock's rumination on why he left teaching...
Commentary Part Two: In teaching and course design, “not everyone can cook”
Editor's Note: This is the second of a two-part commentary considering how college classes are designed and offered. Part One, available here, details retired psychologist and former Baker College instructor James Woolcock's rumination, "Grandma's Homemade Soup," on...
Book review: “The Impossible Presidency” and its sobering path to an “impossible president”
By Robert R. Thomas In 2008 American mythology got a sobering lesson delivered by profligate banksters who caused a near-collapse of the global economy. They then explained to the political class the economic alt-reality of BIG. How big? Too big to fail. Even bigger...
Sierra Club Nepessing presents “Politics of the Environment” March 14
: "Politics of the Environment" Find out what the Michigan Legislature has been up to in regard to environmental issues, how your lawmakers voted on those issues, what the 2018 election is going to look like, how the political races in your area are shaping up, and...
Atherton East replacement project moving forward with $1.5 million state tax credit
By Meghan Christian State aid enabling a first phase of relocation of the often-troubled Atherton East housing complex was announced March 2 by Mayor Karen Weaver. The Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) has approved a nine percent housing tax credit,...
Hamilton Dam coming down as “rewilding” of Flint River flows forward
By Jeffery L Carey Jr. The crumbling 98-year-old Hamilton Dam on the Flint River is coming down. Currently under demolition, the deteriorated old structure finally is being removed from its position just north of the University of Michigan-Flint campus, with the Fabri...
This month in the Village: space school, free films, music, theater, environment and more
Compiled by Meghan Christian Space School Explore how astronauts prepare for space in their underwater training habitat. All Month Mon. - Thurs. 4 p.m. Thurs. - Sat. 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sun. 4 p.m. Longway Planetarium, 1310 E. Kearsley St. 237 - 3400 Admission: $4-$6...
Village Life: Encountering a “child of God” in resurgent Civic Park
By Harold C. Ford Well I came upon a child of God… And I asked him, Tell me where are you going This he told me… We are stardust, we are golden "Woodstock" by Crosby, Stills & Nash Returning from an East Village Magazine assignment, I came...